What is Agentic Commerce?

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Why Agentic Commerce?

The motivation behind agentic commerce is clear:

• Seamless user experience: People already use conversational AI to get advice on what to buy. Agentic commerce closes the loop where the surface allows it, from intent to a product, and then either to checkout or back to the merchant.
• Capture high-intent demand: Instead of hoping a shopper finds the site later, merchants can meet buyers where the purchase intent happens.
• Fewer one-off integrations: ACP, UCP, and AP2, plus Claude for commerce, give merchants a smaller set of patterns instead of a custom build for every agent.
• Maintaining merchant control and trust: Merchants remain the merchant of record where a sale completes. They keep control over pricing, payment, fulfillment, and support.
• Security and authorization: Where an agent can pay, ACP uses scoped tokens and AP2 uses signed mandates. Claude for commerce and Meta's messaging agent hand the sale back to the merchant or a checkout partner rather than moving money themselves.

This approach reimagines commerce: AI agents don't just assist — they can take part in the transaction, safely and only as far as that platform allows.

What is the Agentic Commerce Protocol (ACP)?

The Agentic Commerce Protocol is OpenAI's open standard for agent-driven shopping, co-developed with Stripe. It sets out how a merchant shares a structured catalogue with ChatGPT, and how an approved checkout can be handed off without the merchant giving up the sale.

In September 2025, OpenAI and Stripe launched Instant Checkout. Shoppers in the United States could buy from US Etsy sellers inside ChatGPT, with Shopify merchants announced to follow. The merchant stays the merchant of record. Stripe merchants can turn on agentic payments with a small change. Others can use a shared payment token or the delegated payments spec.

In March 2026 OpenAI said that first in-chat checkout was not flexible enough for most catalogues. The current model is product discovery: merchants share feeds and promotions into ChatGPT, including through Salesforce and Stripe, and the buyer completes checkout on the merchant's own flow. Deeper in-chat buying continues through ChatGPT apps for named partners, such as Walmart. The checkout spec still exists, and Instant Checkout remains limited to approved partners. Separately from ACP, OpenAI announced a visual ad format for ChatGPT on 5 October 2026. It will first be tested during image generation, starting later that month in the United States with an initial group of advertisers. The ads use images of product inspiration, product use, or the experiences a product makes possible. OpenAI says they will be clearly labelled, kept separate from the image being created, and will not influence ChatGPT's answers. An ACP feed is how a catalogue is discovered; these image ads are paid placement on top of that.

Key Properties

• Open and interoperable: ACP is an open standard for catalogue and checkout handoff, not a closed OpenAI-only feed format.
• Catalogue first: The current path for most merchants is a structured product feed, including promotions, that ChatGPT can read.
• Checkout when you are approved: In-chat Instant Checkout is limited to approved partners. Everyone else keeps their own checkout.
• Merchant of record: The merchant keeps pricing, risk, fulfillment, and the customer relationship.
• Scoped, ephemeral tokens: On the in-chat path, payment is authorized with a temporary token limited by amount, merchant, and time.
• A short path through Stripe: Stripe merchants can enable agentic payments with a small change. Others can use a shared payment token or Stripe as the payment layer.
• Open source: The protocol is published for broad use and community participation.

What is Google's agentic commerce stack?

Google splits the job into three pieces, and they are not interchangeable. The Universal Commerce Protocol (UCP) is the shopping journey. The Agent Payments Protocol (AP2) is the payment layer. Agent-to-Agent (A2A) is how agents message each other. A2A is not itself a checkout or payments protocol.

Universal Commerce Protocol (UCP)

Announced in January 2026 and co-developed with Shopify, Etsy, Wayfair, Target, and Walmart, UCP is an open standard for discovery, buying, and post-purchase. It was endorsed by more than 20 other companies, and it is compatible with A2A, AP2, and MCP. Checkout was announced for eligible US retailers on AI Mode in Search and in the Gemini app. The retailer stays the seller of record, with Google Pay and PayPal planned. Google's Merchant Center describes UCP checkout as available to select merchants, with eligibility called out for the United States, Canada, and Australia. A merchant can connect by API, by MCP, or over A2A.

Agent Payments Protocol (AP2)

• Launched in 2025: AP2 is an open, payment-agnostic protocol, built with more than 60 partners.
• Mandate-driven: A signed Intent Mandate records what the buyer allows. A Cart Mandate then covers the specific basket, whether a person is present or the purchase was delegated.
• The payment layer inside UCP: Google's developer guidance treats AP2 as the way an agent pays, especially when the purchase happens later without the person in the loop.
• Works with A2A and MCP: AP2 can extend those protocols. It does not replace the shopping journey.
• Merchant control: The merchant keeps pricing, risk, and payment processing. The agent orchestrates.
• Open source: The spec and samples are public.

Agent-to-Agent (A2A)

A2A is an open protocol for agents to discover each other and exchange tasks. In commerce it is one transport a merchant can use to speak UCP. It is not the product feed, and it is not the payment standard.

What is Claude for commerce?

Anthropic has not published a shopper checkout protocol. On 2 September 2026 it launched Claude for commerce, an open blueprint for retailers and platforms that want agents inside their own app. It is not a hosted store, and it is not a payments network.

Key Properties

• A shopping agent: It can search, compare, plan, and fill a cart, then hand the buyer to the merchant's own checkout.
• A merchant agent: It can help with analytics, listings, pricing, and campaigns. A person must approve any write.
• No order placement: The docs are explicit that no shopping-backend method places an order or moves money.
• Runs on your stack: It uses the Messages API, the Claude Agent SDK, and Claude Managed Agents. Managed Agents reach the store through an MCP server the merchant hosts.

What is Meta doing in agentic commerce?

Meta has not published an open commerce protocol. The live work sits inside Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and Messenger.

Key Properties

• In-app discovery: From March 2026, Meta has been testing an AI experience after an ad click on Facebook and Instagram. It surfaces reviews, brand details, discounts, and recommendations.
• One-tap checkout: The same test starts with PayPal and Stripe, with Adyen and Shopify named as later partners. The advertiser chooses the checkout partner and still fulfills the order. Stripe has said ACP underpins the Facebook native checkout, with Instagram ads planned later.
• Business Agent: From June 2026, a customer-messaging agent is already on WhatsApp and Messenger and expanding to Instagram. It can recommend catalogue products, book appointments, qualify leads, and close a sale, and it connects to systems such as Shopify, Zendesk, and Shopee. It is not a checkout standard.

How the four fit together

NZ merchants do not need four copies of the same integration. They need the piece each surface actually uses:

• An ACP product feed so ChatGPT can discover the catalogue, with in-chat checkout only if you are an approved partner
• A UCP connection for Google AI Mode and Gemini, with AP2 when an agent needs a signed payment mandate, using API, MCP, or A2A as the transport
• Claude for commerce if you want a shopping or merchant agent in your own app, with checkout remaining yours
• Catalogue and checkout readiness for Meta's in-app tests and Business Agent, rather than a new feed format

Together, these options let a merchant show up wherever a customer is already talking to an agent, without pretending that every agent can take payment.

Walkthrough: The Agentic Commerce Flow

1. Product Discovery

1. A user asks an AI, for example, "Find me a wireless headset under $200."
2. The agent queries the catalogue the merchant has shared: an ACP feed for ChatGPT, a UCP connection for Google, a merchant-hosted catalogue for a Claude commerce agent, or the shop's catalogue inside Meta's messaging agent.
3. Products are ranked by relevance, not by which merchant has turned on instant checkout.
4. The user sees eligible items. A buy action appears only on surfaces that actually check out in place.

2. Checkout and handoff

1. The user chooses to buy.
2. Where checkout stays in the agent — approved ACP partners, eligible UCP retailers, or Meta's one-tap test — the agent gathers shipping and payment details.
3. For ACP: An approved partner receives a checkout request at the merchant endpoint. Everyone else is sent to the merchant's own checkout.
4. For Google: UCP runs the shopping step. When AP2 is in use, the agent asks for an Intent Mandate and then a Cart Mandate before payment.
5. For Claude for commerce: The agent fills the cart and hands off. It does not take payment.
6. For Meta: The test uses the checkout partner the advertiser has chosen.
7. The merchant validates inventory, shipping, tax, and risk, and confirms the order on their side.

3. Payment Processing

1. For ACP: On the in-chat path, the agent creates a delegated payment request and a token scoped to that transaction, often through Stripe.
2. For AP2: The signed mandate authorizes the payment. The merchant still processes it.
3. For Claude for commerce: There is no payment step in the blueprint.
4. For Meta: PayPal, Stripe, and later partners take the payment. The merchant, or that partner, captures the funds.
5. The user sees a confirmation in the agent, or on the merchant's own checkout page.

4. Fulfillment & Lifecycle

Merchants then fulfill the order as they normally would. Shipping, returns, refunds, and customer service all remain within their control. ACP, UCP, AP2, Claude for commerce, and Meta's in-app tools don't replace existing commerce systems. They connect those systems to the agent the customer is already using.

PXM and Agentic Commerce

Product Experience Management (PXM) plays a crucial role in enabling effective agentic commerce. As AI agents become more sophisticated in understanding and presenting products to users, the quality of product data, imagery, and contextual information becomes paramount. What is PXM? PXM solutions help merchants maintain rich, accurate product information that AI agents can leverage to provide better recommendations and seamless purchasing experiences. This synergy between PXM and agentic commerce creates a more intelligent, context-aware shopping environment where both human and AI interactions benefit from comprehensive product intelligence.

Partnership Perspective: Four Different Options

OpenAI and Stripe launched ACP and rolled a first version out as Instant Checkout in ChatGPT. Stripe has emphasized that merchants integrate once, keep control of brand, pricing, and risk, and can be discovered by more than one agent. In 2026 that story shifted toward catalogue discovery, with in-chat buying reserved for approved partners and ChatGPT apps. In October 2026 OpenAI added a visual ad format to ChatGPT Ads, tested first during image generation in the US, which gives brands a paid, image-led way to show products next to the organic catalogue.

Google launched AP2 in 2025 with more than 60 partners, then UCP in January 2026 with major retailers. AP2 is the mandate layer for payment. UCP is the journey from discovery to post-purchase. A2A remains the messaging protocol agents use to reach a merchant, including as one way to carry UCP.

Anthropic's contribution is a blueprint, not a network. Claude for commerce is for the retailer's own app. Meta's contribution is distribution: an AI layer on Facebook and Instagram ads, a one-tap checkout with partners such as PayPal and Stripe, and a Business Agent in messaging. Stripe has tied that Facebook checkout back to ACP. Meta has not published a protocol of its own.

Key differences for a merchant:

• OpenAI: Share an ACP feed for discovery. Add in-chat checkout only if you are an approved partner. Stripe is the short path. Visual ads during ChatGPT image generation are a separate, paid channel, tested first with US advertisers from October 2026.
• Google: Connect through UCP for AI Mode and Gemini. Add AP2 when an agent must pay under a signed mandate. A2A is a transport, not a second checkout.
• Anthropic: Embed a shopping or merchant agent with Claude for commerce. Checkout and payment stay yours, and a person approves merchant-side writes.
• Meta: Be ready for in-app discovery and a checkout partner, and for a messaging agent that can recommend products and close a sale. There is no Meta feed spec to implement.
• Trust still sits with the merchant: You need to tell an authorized agent transaction from a bad bot, and both ACP's scoped tokens and AP2's mandates are built for that.

This is an actively evolving set of options, not one protocol with four logos on it.

What These Options Enable

For Users

• Product discovery inside the chat or app they already use.
• Checkout in place only where that surface supports it, with consent through a token or a mandate.
• A handoff back to the merchant when the agent is not allowed to pay.
• The same expectation of a real order, returns, and support from the merchant.

For Merchants

• A new place to be found, at the moment someone asks what to buy.
• Full control over pricing, fulfillment, and the customer relationship.
• A catalogue you can reuse, instead of a separate integration for every agent.
• A clear split between discovery (ACP, UCP, Meta, Claude) and payment (ACP for approved partners, AP2, or your own checkout).
• No requirement to pretend Anthropic or Meta have published a checkout protocol they have not.

For AI Agents

• A way to read a catalogue without becoming the merchant.
• Shared standards where they exist: ACP, UCP, AP2, A2A, and MCP.
• A hard stop where the platform forbids placing an order or moving money.
• Mandate and token flows that keep a purchase inside what the user authorized.

Challenges & Future Directions

There are still challenges ahead:

• Security and trust: Only authorized purchases should go through, whether the control is a scoped token, a signed mandate, or a human approval.
• Liability: Responsibility for fraud or a mistaken order is not the same on an in-chat checkout as it is on a handoff to the merchant.
• Uneven access: ACP in-chat checkout and Google UCP checkout are still limited by partner and by country. New Zealand is not in those first eligibility lists. OpenAI's visual ads during image generation also start as a US-only test with an initial group of advertisers.
• Four different jobs: A feed, a payment mandate, an in-app blueprint, and a messaging agent are not interchangeable. Merchants need to know which one they are building.
• Complexity: Multi-merchant carts, subscriptions, and cross-border compliance are still harder than a single product feed.
• User confidence: People need to see what the agent is allowed to do, and where they will be sent to pay.

Wrap-up

Agentic commerce is not one protocol. OpenAI's Agentic Commerce Protocol (ACP), co-developed with Stripe, is how a catalogue gets into ChatGPT, with in-chat checkout only for approved partners, and OpenAI's new visual ads during image generation are a paid channel alongside it. Google's Universal Commerce Protocol (UCP) is the shopping journey, AP2 is the payment mandate, and A2A is agent messaging. Anthropic's Claude for commerce puts an agent in the retailer's own app and refuses to move money. Meta is testing discovery, one-tap checkout, and a Business Agent inside its own apps, without an open protocol.

Users get help finding and, sometimes, buying. Merchants get new channels without giving up the sale. Agents get a boundary: discover freely, pay only where a token, a mandate, or a checkout partner says they may. For a New Zealand business, the practical step is a clean catalogue and a checkout you still control, ready for whichever of the four opens next.